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March 14, 2017
Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

03

STAFF EDITORIAL
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TA L I S M A N
P O L I C I E S

T A L I S M A N
S T A F F

M i s s i o n
Statement

Editor-in-Chief

Rachel Halmrast

The Ballard Talisman is an
open public forum for student expression, and exists
to give a student perspective on issues relating to the
Ballard student body and
community. Please send
signed letters with author’s
name, class or position (e.g.
parent, student, teacher,
etc.) to the editor.

Managing Editor
Jackson Croy

News Editor

Melina Monlux

Sports Editor

Sam Heikell

O b i t u a r y
P o l i c y

Fe a t u r e s E d i t o r

If a student or staff member
passes away during the
school year, the Talisman
will print a picture and
extended caption, however,
some cases may warrant an
article. Each current student
or employee will receive an
obituary including name,
date of birth, date of death
and a short biography.
Coverage of former students
and employees will be taken
on a case-by-case basis.

Eleanor Dudley

A&E

Letters to
the Editor

Letters submitted must be
signed. Though, in some
cases, the author’s name
may not have to be printed.
There is a 500 word maximum. Anything longer may
be submitted as a guest article, subject to being edited
for length. Letter will appear
on the editorial page.

Disclaimer
The staff reserves the right
to refuse or edit editorials
and letters for libelous content, obscenity or material
considered inappropriate
for publication. The Talisman staff practices sound
journalism as found in the
Society of Professional Journalists, Code of Ethics.

Corrections
In the news article “A
celebreation of culture,”
Felicia Pelaez’s name was
incorrectly spelled Palaez.

Cover photo by
Miles Whitworth

Jackson Croy

Opinions Editor

Claire Moriarty

Copy Editor

Katie Read Kearney

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Editor

Photo
Video

Editor

Miles Whitworth

Editor

Miles Andersen

Online E d i t o r

Ana Marbett

The grave consequences of
trickle-down environomics

W

hen apathy rises
faster than the
water levels, arguing
that anything should be done
to protect the environment
is tough to say the least.
The nauseating mix of overseasoned celebrity gossip
paired with hostile executive
orders and finished with
a slew of Spicer’s Special
Sauce (Ingredients include:
tantrums, denial and slanting
the truth) has turned 2017’s
news media from a disgusting
meal to the daily slop of gruel
that we accept as terms of our
citizenship.
However, in the
revolting buffet of Trump
administration policies,
none are so offensive as
the promises to deplete
and destroy the fewremaining protections to the
environment.
Unlike the majority
of presidential policies

which can be restored or
revoked by the succeeding
administration, rolling back
environmental protection
laws has consequences that
make low approval ratings
look as petty as counting
social media followers.
The first consequences will
be the acid rain, followed
quickly by diminishing of
water sources in developing
countries (Lake Chad for
example has shrunk 90
percent in the last 30 years),
which leads to internal
conflict that prevents
industrialization, hurting
developing economies
far more than the Paris
agreement’s so-called
restrictions could.
A strong case is made by
deniers of climate change,
though. How could us liberal
hippies possibly tell the hardworking blue collar workers
of the world that their humble

jobs in the energy industrial
complex should be taken away
and regarded as obsolete?
But cutting a few thousand
energy jobs doesn’t nearly
equate to the imminent
destruction of the entire
planet. In fact, by directing
funds out of the pockets
of billionaires and into
retraining programs for
displaced workers, the
government would be
investing greatly into the
future of clean energy.
The issue of the
environment has no political
motives, only political
solutions. The rising seas and
temperatures won’t take the
time to distinguish between
sides of the aisle. No matter
who decides to kill it, the
climate’s quickening death
will affect us all.
Editorial cartoon
by Brandon Griffith

ast month,
War
Survivors
Institute (WSI) members hosted
a clothing drive at the school and
several local businesses with the goal
of being able to ship clothes to Iraq.
With unrest in the Middle East,
many people have been forced to flee
their home countries. Members of the
WSI club have been doing their best to
help refugees in the Seattle area and
abroad.
Junior Cameron Clonch’s uncle,
Dr. Michael Hollifield, worked with
refugees suffering from PTSD, which
inspired him to start a non-profit to
help refugees. “[In California] I think
[the non-profit] is more about the
mental health of refugees, but up here,
we’re just doing whatever we can to
help refugees in Seattle and abroad,”
junior Jenny Mastrobatista said.
“WSI as a whole, not the student
part, is about mental health,” Clonch
said.
“Honestly, we never expected to get
that much stuff. We were really just
trying to figure out how to ship it all,”
junior Chloe Marzio said. “We got the
most donations, I think, from Grumpy
D’s and Sip and Ship, but Holy
Grounds still helped a lot. We’d have
to collect it every couple days because
the boxes kept filling up.”
They are currently facing a dilemma
of how to get all of the donated
clothing to Iraq. “We’re trying to
find some way to raise money so we

Elsa Anderson
Staff Reporter

o celebrate Earth Week,
members of Earth Service Corps came up with a
theme for each day of the
week to promote environmentally friendly practices.
The days included Reusable Day, Transportation
Tuesday, Environmental
Education Day, Thrifty
Thursday and Color Day.
On Environmental Education Day, Isaiah Bolden
gave a presentation on
climate change. On Color
Day, Bogdana Manola will
give a presentation about
environmental justice.
can send everything, because that’s
expensive. I think we’re toying with
the idea of a yard sale or a bake sale or
something like that, but we’re still in
the process of deciding,” Marzio said.
“We knew a lot of people [would
want to donate] because Seattle
is such a liberal bubble, but given
everything that’s been going on,
people were really eager to help out
and we were really moved by that,”
Mastrobatista said.
“My basement is very full [of
clothes] right now,” Clonch said.
At the end of the clothing drive, it
was estimated that 1000 pounds of
clothes were collected.
Club members have spent the past
couple of weekends sorting through
the clothing to make it easier for
recipients to find what they need.
“There are people who donated nice
suits and jackets and stuff, which is
really nice, and we’re trying to pull
that out so if people are trying to look
for work or something, it will be easier
for them to find nice clothes,” Marzio
said.
Members meet on Thursday
mornings at 8 a.m. in Mr. Thompson’s
room.
“[At the meetings] we usually
just talk about whatever project we
have going on. Right now it’s sort of
the clothing drive and we’re making
thank you notes to all the businesses
in Ballard who agreed to have a box
for our clothing drive,” Mastrobatista
said.

War Survivors Institute members pose in front of
donated clothing. (Photo courtesy of Cameron
Clonch)

Dr. Hollifield is planning to go
to Iraq in late May, when he will
distribute the collected clothing.
“We’re going to ship [the clothing]
to sort of an office there and once he
arrives in Iraq he will take it from
there to the refugee camp and he will
personally distribute the clothes to
refugees,” Mastrobatista said.
Due to recent politics, though, his
trip may be postponed. “[My uncle]
might not be able to go because
he might now need government
permission because of Trump,” Clonch
said. With President Trump’s recent
executive orders banning people from
traveling to the United States from
Iraq, Dr. Hollifield may not be able to
travel back from Iraq.
Though focused on fundraising
now, club members have hopes of
getting more involved in the lives of
refugees living in Seattle. “There’s
different partners that my uncle has
set up and one of them is in Seattle,”
Clonch said. “They’re going to try to
set up storytelling groups, so we could
go and participate in the storytelling
groups and maybe record some
stories and publish them on a blog or
something.”
“We’re just in it to help refugees,”
Clonch said. “There’s a lot to be done.”

Students register for
classes online for the
first time

R

egistration for classes
for the 2017-2018
school year has changed
from years prior. Students
are now able to register
for classes online. This
system comes as a relief
for counselors, students
and the registrar alike, as
it offers a far more convinient alternative to the
conventional pencil and
paper system. While the
incoming freshman class
is unable to use the system at the current time, all
current students returning
next year will utilize it.

ith graduation
around the corner,
the odds and ends of
the ceremony must be
planned. That means its
about time for graduation
auditions. Students who
feel they want to share a
speech or performance
must audition on April
25th in the performing
arts center.

April 21, 2017
Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

NEWS

ballardtally@gmail.com

05

District to add four portables this summer
New space to accommodate rising student enrollment

T

he school
district will add
four portable
classrooms this
summer to prepare for the 2017-2018
school year.
With an ongoing influx of students
in Seattle Public Schools, it’s
seemingly inevitable that every school
will eventually need to add portable
classrooms, this one coming only 17
years after Ballard’s latest remodel.
The heavy student population of
1,818 is set to go up a notch, raising
to an estimated 1,904 students for the
upcoming school year.
Two portables will be located on
the north side of the school, outside
and between the home economics
and science pods. Preparing for the
move in process, science teacher
Eric Muhs has already had to clear a
couple of classroom projects out of the
way. A “solar death ray” was built as
a classroom physics project, using a
homemade reflecting dish to harness
the sun’s light and use it to heat
water. Also, Muhs had a polar aligned
telescope pier setup for his astronomy
classes that needed to be removed.

Sam Heikell
Sports Editor

The other two portables will likely
be installed outside of the commons,
where the astroturf planter box
currently sits.
Installing the classrooms won't
affect the tight school budget and are
funded by the school district.
“[The classrooms] are taken care
of by the capital budget,” Principal
Keven Wynkoop said. “The furniture
and everything else is covered by
the capital budget as well so the new
classes will have all new furniture.”
With a growing number of students,
the school will need to be hiring a
couple more teachers.
“We have about a half dozen
positions that we are planning to hire
for,” Wynkoop said. “Most of them are
part time positions but we’ll be able to
keep up with enrollment so class sizes
don’t increase.”
Being a student in an overcrowded
school may be difficult, the hallways
get crowded, not everyone gets a
locker and the teachers have a lot on
their plate. But in the next few years,
the projected student enrollment is
said to progressively go down.
“We have a two year window where

The planned portables will be located on the Northwest and Southeast side of the school and
with installation beginning over the summer. (Sam Heikell)

the school is going to continue to get
a lot bigger, and then Lincoln High
School will open in the fall of 2019,
and then [our enrollment] should drop
precipitously,” Wynkoop said. “We

will probably be about 500 students
smaller in the fall of 2019 than we
were the June before that. So the
anticipation is that all of the portables
would leave before that year.”

Students activists take on climate change

How 21 teenagers are suing the government over enviornmental inaction

Student protesters march for environmental justice (Photo courtesy of iMatter)

A

landmark
lawsuit
Staff Reporter
against the
U.S. government is
taking place over its failure to address
the effects of climate change. It’s 21
plaintiffs are all between the ages of
nine and 22.
“Inaction by U.S. government
officials,” alleges the suit, “is robbing

Chris Barrett

[millennials] of their future by
failing to protect them despite their
knowledge of the global harm caused
by fossil fuels.”
Against expectations, the lawsuit
was approved to advance by Oregon
judge Ann Aiken, who ruled that it
“adequately alleged infringement of a
fundamental right.” The suit -- which
runs on the argument that ignoring

the future ramifications of climate
we had come a lot farther in terms
change infringes young people’s right
of progress on climate, and now I
to life, liberty, and happiness -- marks
had to accept the reality that our
what many hope will be an important
current administration is a huge step
shift in the government’s stance.
backwards.”
“My hope centers around the young
Climate activists hope that the case
people that I work with every day,”
inspires more young people to take
said Larry Kraft through e-mail. Kraft
action and fight for what they care
is the executive director of iMatter,
about.
a nonprofit organization centered
“We have campaigns that
around engaging
essentially guide
young people
“Inaction by U.S.
you through
with combating
process of
government officials is the
climate change.
acting on the
iMatter has
robbing [millennials] of local level, which
guided many
where your
their future by failing isvoice
of the young
can best
plaintiffs in the
to protect them despite be heard and
process of the
to make
their knowledge of the used
suit. “You may
change,” Adkins
not realize it, but
global harm caused by said. “And I
your generation
think being a
fossil fuels.”
has tremendous
young person
power to make
-Alec L. v. McCarthy really amplifies
change on this
that because city
issue,” he said.
councils are so
“I always feel anxiety about the
surprised to see that young people can
future in regards to climate change,”
actually care about real issues, and
Maddie Adkins, a youth leader from
actually you are able to show up and
iMatter, said through e-mail. “But
speak out for what you care about.”
when [the election] happened, I
was just so surprised. I thought that

06

NEWS
ballardtalisman.com

April 21, 2017
Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

Film program to produce documentares for IMAX
Students travel to the Elwha Dam for their environmentaly focused project

Film students set
up for their daily
shoot along the
Elwha River near
Port Angleles. The
Ballard Digital
Filmmaking
Program has been
producing two
documentaries
about local
environmental
issues for IMAX
and the All
American High
School Film
Festival. The
documentaries
are to be released
in early May.
(Miles Whitworth)

Olivia Burdick

T

he All American High School
Film Festival (AAHSFF)
chose the BHS Digital
Filmmaking Program to be one out of five other
exceptional programs to receive a $5,000 grant
from IMAX. The AAHSFF is the largest high school
film festival in the nation, which draws competition
nationwide. The announcement for which schools
were selected for the In Focus grant was made on
Oct. 7, 2016, in New York City.
The In Focus grant from IMAX was created to
highlight the work of young filmmakers, by asking
them to make documentaries that inspire their
audiences to improve the planet. IMAX will award
Staff Reporter

Senior Celilia O’Rollins sets up the camera for a filming
session along the Elwha River. (Miles Whitworth)

a grant of $5,000 to four high schools and one
salmon, swam up and down the river and many
non-profit film workshop, selected by the AAHSFF.
habitats flourished throughout the area. After the
These schools are considered to have exemplary
dams were put in, denying access to 83 percent of
programs.
the river, the fish were trapped, which didn’t allow
The BHS film program was selected purely from
the salmon to reproduce properly.
their already stellar reputation, that is known
The restriction of fish passage through the river
throughout the nation. This project will without a
caused a second problem--the Lower Elwha Klallam
doubt push that reputation up even higher.
tribe had lost their main source of food. Before the
IMAX has explicitly given the winners of the
dam was put in the tribe would fish up and down the
grant a task that isn’t an easy feat. The young
river both for their own food and for their income.
filmmakers were asked to create documentaries
“It was so crazy. We went to the sight where the
that put a spotlight on today’s most compelling
dams were and there was this giant lake and now it’s
environmental, societal and economic issues.
all gone and it’s just this river,” O’Rollins said. “It
Under these guidelines, each program has to
was just so weird, you could see where the lake had
create an eight-minute
and there was all this fresh
“We went to the sight been
documentary and
growth and it was just really neat
produce related social
where the dams were and to look at.”
media content.
1992, the dams were up
there was this giant lake forInrelicensing
The film program at
and there was
Ballard has two different and now it’s all gone and harsh opposition to getting the
teams that are filming
dams relicensed. The Lower
it’s just this river”
with the grant money.
Elwha Klallam tribe stepped
One team is filming for
-senior Cecilia O’Rollins in, protesting relicensing for
the Bullitt building in
the dams. The tribe opposing
Seattle, a 100 percent
relicensing claimed that the dams
sustainable building. The other team is the team
were doing more harm than good because they
documenting the removal of dams on the Elwha
weren’t generating a lot of power and they were
River near Port Angeles.
awful for the environment.
The students on the Elwha Dam team are
By 2012 both dams had been taken down.
documenting the history of where the dam is, Port
“All of this new life is coming back and it’s a really
Angeles, from the early 1900s to now, focusing on
interesting story because it’s one of the few nature
the dams effect on the river and community.
success stories. And it’s also the world’s largest dam
The shooting crew for the Elwha group consisted
removal ever, right here in the Pacific Northwest,”
of senior Cecilia O’Rollins, juniors Miles Whitworth, O’Rollins said.
Jasper Land, Chris Barrett, Martin Bolivar, senior
On May 12, each documentary that was selected
Aaron Miller and sophomores Freeman Marshall
for the grant will be shown before feature IMAX
and Maddie Lausted, however the whole digital
films worldwide, replacing what would be previews.
filmmaking class assisted in some way.
From our little bubble in the Pacific Northwest,
In the early 1900s two dams, the Elwha Dam and
a group of high school students are reaching
Glines Canyon Dam, were put in on the Elwha river
audiences nationwide, conveying messages about
by Canadian business man, Thomas Aldwell. The
environmentalism that could change how people
Dams were designed in a way that made it so there
think, and potentially change the world.
wasn’t passage for fish through each dam and the
rest of the river.
Before the dams were put in, fish, especially

FEATURES
ballardtally@gmail.com

April 21, 2017
Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

Revisiting the memorial of a slain student

07

The story behind a memorial bench dedicated to student Melissa Fernandes

I

t is not clear,
in every case,
Staff Reporter
the purpose
of a permanent memorial. I recently
visited Washington, D.C, the home
of a number of memorials. In
contemplating their purpose, I left
considering their impact on our past
and future.
The dictionary defines a memorial
as serving to help people remember
some person or event; commemorative.
I like to think that more importantly,
memorials provide us the opportunity
to apply their symbolism and impact on
our future.
We have such a memorial to one
of the students who left our campus
suddenly and violently. Perhaps you
have seen or experienced the memorial
at the southeast end of campus.
The memorial which is in the form
of a marble bench, came at a high cost.
Melissa Fernandes was a sophomore
here in 1994; a student very likely
facing many of our same challenges at
the end of the current quarter.
This bench with Melissa’s picture,
was placed in the front of the school
in memory of her. It can be found
adjacent to the outside tables east of
the south entrance to the school.
In 1994, March 23 was a
Wednesday; this year it was a
Thursday. Perhaps that day so many
years ago, Melissa Fernandes may have
been thinking about the end of third
quarter and tests, just as many of us
were contemplating on Thursday the
23.
Unfortunately, Melissa lost her life
in front of the school, at a time when
violence visited her and our campus, in
an untimely manner.
Former student and current
language arts
teacher Brook
Brayman recalls
the event. He
was a junior at
the time.
“Certainly we
were a little bit
scared but we
also understood
that this was not
Brook Brayman,
a random event,
Language Arts Teacher
this was because
somebody had beef with somebody else
and was going after them,” Brayman
said. “This happened kinda right
around where the tennis courts are
on the sidewalk and yeah it was very
tragic.”
According to the Seattle Post
Intelligencer, the academic year of
1993-1994 had more than 125 incidents
reported here on campus, including 22
assaults, 27 disturbances and 12 cases

James Johnson

involving weapons. The
previous year 171 incidents
were reported. More than
any other Seattle Public
School at the time.
Brayman experienced
this environment first hand
when a gun was flashed at
him.
“This was either my
freshman or sophomore
year and we were in the
auditorium and I was just
kinda shooting the breeze
with a couple guys, and
one guy who was sitting
next to his buddy said ‘you
want us to use this’ and he
reached over and pulled
up his buddy’s shirt and
This bench with Melissa’s picture, was placed in the front of the school in memory of her. This can be found
his buddy’s got a pistol in his adjacent to the outside tables east of the south entrance to the school. (James Johnson)
waistband. This was before
I do recall being in Señor Bedoyas
we were really encouraged to report
spanish class, I do recall it being a
things like that. Before Columbine,”
mindless sort of day, I don’t recall
as recalled by language arts teacher
sirens, I don’t recall hearing the shots
Brook Brayman.
and I think I would’ve been in a good
March 23 may have passed us
position acoustically. I don’t think
by, but it is a date long remembered
there was even a lockdown, we didn’t
by the family of one of our former
do lockdowns. I don’t recall any big
students, the Fernandes family.
to do of getting off campus,” said
On that day, 23 years ago, Melissa
Brayman.
Fernandes was killed by Brian
Within the past few years, state
Ronquillo of Shorewood High School
Court of Appeals returned the case
in a drive-by shooting. Ronquillo was
to King County Superior Court for
the same age as Melissa, age 16.
resentencing. This was related to the
Today, Ronquillo sits in a jail cell.
court reconsidering lengthy sentences
Ronquillo, who was a part of a gang
for perpetrators who were minors at
that went by the name “23rd street
the time of their sentence.
diablos” fired eight rounds in response
According to a friend of Brayman,
to a rival gang challenge. This rival
Ronquillo wasn’t the cold-blooded
gang was called the “bad side posse”
killer the media had portrayed him as.
reported to be headquartered here at
“My best childhood friend actually
BHS at the time.
Photo of Melissa Fernandes from the
sat with the shooter when they were
This story is not about Ronquillo,
1994 BHS yearbook. (Shingle Archives)
freshman at Blanchet, and my friend
but perhaps more appropriately, the
Had she lived, Fernandes
said he wasn’t that bad of a guy but he
lost future of Melissa Fernandes and
would have likely gone on to lead a
was just a bit of a punk, and then the
what we can learn from her passing.
successful and happy life, and today
shooter transferred to Shorewood,”
Although Fernandes wasn’t an
she would be 39 years old, perhaps an
said Brayman.
intended target, she paid for being
age similar to some of our parents.
Ronquillo received a sentence of
in the wrong place (67th Ave NW
As we are all progressively moving
51 years that will see him released
and 14th) at the wrong time, as she
through the final quarter, we are
sometime in his late 60s.
awaited a ride from her mother.
making plans for the summer and
As many of you may know, we’re
A second student was reportedly
graduation is on the horizon for some
reminded of Fernandes through a
injured.
of us. What we are not thinking about
memorial bench located near the
According to the Seattle Times
is mortality.
athletic field.
Fernandes was shot outside the
Many of us face a challenge when
The bench reads “victim of a drive
school at about 1:30 p.m. and later
contemplating death because it is
by shooting died March 24, 1994 age
underwent surgery at Harborview
generally met with aversion and
16. Just think of the brightest star you
Medical Center. She died at 11:27 a.m.
avoidance, since it seems so obscure
ever saw and you are thinking of her.”
the following morning.
The memorial was originally placed and distant to us in our mid-to-late
If this were to take place today the
teens.
where the shooting took place but
school would be put on immediate
Perhaps this is the reason one
was later moved after the campus
lockdown and there would be a
death is marked in a very permanent
renovation in 1999.
massive police response. But things
way on our campus, it is there to
“And if I recall correctly that
were different in 1994. This was before
remember a life cut too short. It is
monument was near the site of the
mass shooting preparedness was
shooting and I think it was moved as a there to remind us to live each day as
common in public schools. This was
if it were our last.
result of the school rebuilding. I recall
before Columbine.
it being back there for a little while,”
“I think it was fifth or sixth period,
said Brook Brayman.

08 FEATURES

April 21, 2017
Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

ballardtalisman.com

The effect of cancer on our community

Students and staff members share their experiences with cancer

W

hen I
Megan Vogel passed away. Within a
was in
Features Editor
few years, cancer had crept in, first
second
into her classroom, then her family
grade, my grandma was diagnosed
and finally her best friend.
with a rare and aggressive cancer,
Two years ago her longtime friend
with a less-than-encouraging survival
Sarah passed away from melanoma.
rate. Nine years, several surgeries and They had been best friends since high
rounds of chemotherapy later, she’s
school, when they met working at the
still living life to its fullest. Although
Redmond Town Center Gap. In the
she walks with a cane, she spends the
years since then, they celebrated the
summer floating on an air mattress,
10-year anniversary of their friendship
going on rides at the fair my sister was and traveled to Mexico together.
too afraid to get on and bouncing on
They never imagined the turn their
our trampoline.
friendship would take.
Her story is
James
one of many
“You planned your life around also lost a
within our
loved one to
having these old girlfriends
community.
melanoma.
According forever or going to your cousin’s Her
to the
wedding or your aunt being
grandpa
Washington
passed away
there
when
you
have
grandkids
State
last year,
and they’re not there.”
Department
months
-Nell Niewdomski
of Health
after James
there are
spent spring
on average
break
10,697 annual incidences of cancer in
traveling with him and her grandma,
King County, of which 2,934 are fatal.
knowing the trip would be their last.
It is clear that many lives have been
Fractured Future
touched by cancer.
One of the hardest parts for both
Our school is not immune.
Niewiadomski and James was the
Science teacher Nell Niewiadomski,
altering of their expectations for the
senior Eleanor James, maritime
future. They had dreams and plans
teacher John Foster and secretary
that would never be realized, and
Vivian Belcher all shared their
there’s a permanently empty spot at
experiences with cancer.
the table of their future celebrations.
Niewiadomski was never affected
“When I get married she would’ve
by cancer until her late twenties.
been my bridesmaid and now she
During her first year at BHS that was
won’t be,” Niewiadomski said. “You
changed when former science teacher
planned your life around having these

Eleanor Dudley

Nell Niewdomski, Science teacher (Miles Whitworth)

old girlfriends
forever or going
to your cousin’s
wedding or your
aunt being there
when you have
grandkids and
they’re not there.”
James
felt a similar
disappointment.
“I think about
things like
‘Grandpa would
be proud of me if
I did this thing,’”
James said. “I
think about how
I’ll be graduating
soon and him
not being there
makes me really
sad.”
Losing an
individual
During their
battles with
cancer, both

Niewiadomski and
James recalled
out of character
behaviors from
their loved ones
as they slipped
away. Physical
deterioration
and increasing
dependence were
also difficult parts
of the journey.
“It’s really hard
to see someone
that you knew —
like who they were— and they’re not
there anymore,”
Niewiadomski
said.“It was very
hard to watch
somebody have to
go through that,
like be in diapers
and no longer
brushing their
teeth and can’t get
out of bed.”
In the moment
The climactic moment of
their loved one’s departure is still
the hardest part to talk about for
Niewiadomski and James. James
remembers that moment with regret,
because she returned too late to be
there for her grandpa’s passing, after
having gone home earlier in the day to
watch the movie, “The Sisterhood of
the Traveling Pants.”
“I just hate myself for having
gone home from the hospital and
just watching that movie that I could
watch any other time and not having
been there,” James said.
The moment was emotionally
overpowering for James.
“I remember walking into the
stairwell and just sobbing and being
so angry and not understanding or
knowing what to think,” James said.
“I was in shock. No one else in my
life had ever died and I just didn’t
understand.”
Remembering little things
In the aftermath of loss, it’s the
small things that reopen the wound.
Niewiadomski and James both
mentioned details that still hurt them
today.
“I can’t watch ‘Sex and the City’
because that was our thing. And so
maybe in five years I can do that
again,” Niewdomski said.
“Getting his phone calls—he’d call
me Sugar—and not hearing his voice,
there’s little things that you miss,”
James said.

Eleanor James, Senior (Miles Whitwoth)

Finding closure
Despite medical efforts, death
is often a sad result of cancer.
Niewiadomski and James know this
all too well. Although the hurt is never
fully gone, they have both resigned
themselves to their loss, as one must.
“It’s been pretty gradual, just not
seeing him and realizing, no he’s not
on a vacation,” James said.
“Grief is a bitch. I feel bad for
anyone who has lost somebody,”
Niewiadomski said. “You have no idea
when it’s coming and then it can show
up at anytime. You have no way of
knowing how long it’s going to hurt.”
Firsthand Experience
Due to modern medical
advancements cancer isn’t always
a death sentence. Many people live
with cancer, and many recover. Here
at BHS, secretary Vivian Belcher and
maritime teacher John Foster are
currently fighting cancer.
For the past three years Belcher
has been battling ovarian cancer. She
is continuing treatment and is doing
better now than she was three years
ago.
At the end of the last school year,
Foster found a lump in his throat.
It turned out to be cancer, and a
surgery soon followed. He began
treatment just as this school year was
starting. He gave up some classes but
continued teaching maritime, while
undergoing treatment. Even though
his treatment continues, he is back to
working full time.

April 21, 2017
Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

FEATURES
ballardtally@gmail.com

“The cancer I don’t feel, I don’t
in to outreach, to spread the message.
notice, it was the treatment itself,”
It’s totally preventable, Sarah tanned
Foster said. “Things didn’t taste
when she was in high school and in
right, I had no appetite, the drugs
her 20s, that was her thing and it
numbed me up and I just didn’t feel killed her,” Niewiadomski said.
like myself.”
One of the reasons Foster agreed to
Support
share his cancer story was because he
Both Belcher and Foster also
wanted to educate students. He suffers
mentioned that during these
from throat cancer, an HPV strain that
difficult times,
can be prevented
the BHS
with a vaccine.
Each of these stories can
community
“Its one of
inspire us as a community.
was very
those
things that
They prompt us to be grateful
supportive.
if you think
for things both big and small.
Throughout
about it, it’s
They are reminders to make
their
a vaccine
the most of our time and
treatment
against
remain steadfast in our hope. cancer,”
each
continued
Foster said.
to come to
“And it has a
work
everyday,
showing
strength,
great
success
rate.”
John Foster, Maritime teacher (Miles Whitwoth)
fortitude and perseverance.
Takeaways
Belcher remarked on “how
Each of these stories can
Treatment
incredibly supportive BHS has been.” inspire us as a community. They
Both Belcher and Foster agreed
Outreach
prompt us to be grateful for
that undergoing treatment isn’t easy.
All of these people wanted to
things both big and small. They
“You just want to curl up in a ball
share their experiences with cancer
are reminders to make the most
and do nothing, but staying at home
because they wanted to spread
of our time and remain steadfast
isn’t good either,” Belcher said.
awareness and understanding.
in our hope.
For Foster, the radiation therapy
Niewiadomski sends the message
While each story is unique
was the hardest part. Because of the
through her biology classes, telling
and their outcomes are not the
radiation directed at his throat, he
her students Sarah’s story, and
same, each is a portrait of the
was unable to eat for three months,
teaching them the science behind
effect cancer has had on our
had a feeding tube and ended up
cancer.
community. They are all stories
losing 50 pounds.
“I brought the melanoma people
about our loved ones. Because

09

it is the stories of lost loved ones
that bring us to tears. And for those
fighting cancer, it is the thought of
their loved ones that emboldens them.
“Part of it is knowing I’ve got two
great daughters and whatever happens
to me they’ve got a great start in life,”
Foster said. “That’s the hard part too, I
don’t want to leave them.”
“I’ve got three grown kids and I
want to be around, ” Belcher said. “My
words of advice would be don’t give
up...because I haven’t.”

Vivian Becher, Secretary (Miles Whitwoth)

Fulfilling prisoner’s paperback dreams

Local non-profit organization provides thousands of books to those incarcerated

T

oday in
America there
Features Editor
are hundreds
of thousands of people incarcerated.
Prisons are bleak places where
people watch their hopes and dreams
evaporate while they stare at a wall for
infinite hours.
According to USA facts, 728,600
people were incarcerated in America
in 2015. This number, although high,
shows a decline in prison populations
since 2010.
Current efforts are underway
in Washington state to increase
prisoners access to books and
learning.
Gov. Jay Inslee is expected to sign
a new law this year that would allow
prisoners to receive two-year college
degrees paid for by the state. The
goal is to better prepare prisoners to
reenter society after they have served
their time.
Non-profit organizations have been
trying to do this in various ways for
years. In Seattle, the organization
Books to Prisoners sends 15,000
books to incarcerations across the
country every year.
The program is sponsored by Left
Bank Books, a well-known anarchist
bookstore located in Pike Place
Market.

Eleanor Dudley

Originally founded in the early
1970s, the program has expanded over
the years. It started with volunteers
only but now includes a full-time staff.
Current program manager, Michelle
Dillion, spoke at the National High
School Journalism Convention held in
Seattle in early April. She was a young
graduate student at the University of
Washington when she first discovered
the organization.
“I started reading through the
letters from the individuals, just
expressing the most basic needs,”
Dillion said. She was moved by the
prisoners simple requests and the lack
of opportunities they faced.
For the past three years Dillion
has worked to ensure the books
prisoner’s request end up in their
hands. This is quite a challenge as
most incarceration centers have tight
regulations and banned-book lists.
“Prisons are very isolating places,”
Dillion said. “Part of that are the
systems of control —often arbitrary,
often capricious —that you find on
every level.”
In the face of this isolation,
prisoners turn to books to guide
them. From Western novels to
GED materials to the ever popular
dictionary, the requests reflect each
prisoner.

A prison cell at Washington Corrections Center for Women. (Washington Department of
Corrections)

“So often in prisons people get
used to being identified by a number.
I think our organization helps
them remember they truly are still
individuals,” Dillion said.
By acknowledging prisoners’
individuality and providing support
for them to pursue their dreams,
Books to Prisoners is giving the gift
of knowledge and providing valuable
opportunities, with long-term payoffs.
A 2013 study by the RAND

Corp. found that inmates who are
involved in correctional education
programs have 43 percent lower
odds of returning to prison, and their
employment rates were 13 percent
higher than those who do not.
In the tumultuous state of
American politics, efforts such as
these are a reminder that lives can be
changed by little things and the power
of books and learning is undeniable.

10

FOCUS
ballardtalisman.com

April 21, 2017
Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

In a time of confusing environmental priorities, it’s important to remember
the natural beauty around us. City life can make it easy to withdraw from
nature, but we are fortunate enough to live nestled in a cornucopia of
parks, beaches, islands and forests. These natural resources won’t be here
forever, and its time to recognize this very real possibility.

S

eattle is one
of the most
rapidly evolving
urban environments in the country.
In the past two years, the number of
construction cranes dotting our skyline
has surpassed that of New York City. The
threat of gentrification appears every
time a beloved landmark is bulldozed for
condos. A brand new skyscraper has been
proposed that in the next few years, will
cast a shadow on the Columbia Center.
However, even with the proof of
industrialization rising around us, it is
important to remember that we live in a
naturally spectacular region. Just outside
of our city, the Pacific Northwest offers
stunning mountains, pebbled Pacific
Ocean beaches and perfectly preserved
national parks. Mt. Rainier and the
islands of the Puget Sound are visible
from crowded freeways.
It’s easy to get caught up in city life and
forget just how close we are to nature.
The trees that line our streets and color
our neighborhoods green are enough to
ease our hunger for the natural, but are
often not enough. Seattleites have the
extraordinary privilege to return to the
great outdoors in a matter of miles, and
that privilege should not be taken for
granted.

Rachel Halmrast
Editor-in-Chief

We also face the obstacle of living in a
bubble. Not only is Seattle almost entirely
a city of liberals, we also can get caught
in our own perception of what changes to
the planet will actually mean.
When we are asked to consider the
environment, we often think of faraway
ice caps, endangered animals we have
never seen and tropical rainforests far
beyond our imagination, but we do not
think of the beauty that we see everyday—
that we have grown accustomed to.
Our beloved Puget Sound and it’s many
animals inhabitants will not be unaffected
by climate change. It’s harder to accept
that our lives and our city could change,
but it is exactly that mentality that we
need to embrace if we are to genuinely
address the problem of our changing
planet.
It’s time to accept that dramatic
environmental changes are coming in our
lifetime, and they will not be fixed for us.
The Earth’s natural wonders are not
indestructible, and their preservation is
not being

It’s time to accept that dramatic
environmental changes are
coming in our lifetime, and they
will not be fixed for us.

prioritized. Our planet has sustained us
for hundreds of thousands of years, but
since the Industrial Revolution we have
demanded an unsustainable amount of
resources. Climate change has been set in
motion by the generations before us, and
it’s no longer safe to say, “it’s somebody
else’s problem,” or “it won’t ever affect
me.”
It’s somewhat of an alarming reality
to face, but we are the ones who have
been charged with rectifying the mistakes
of the past. Those in power refuse to
acknowledge the mere existence of
a problem, and there is no time left
to waste on them. There is no time
left to wait for someone else to take
responsibility.
Every individual has the power to
create change. The technology of our
time is advanced enough to counter the
effects of climate change, we just need the
motivation to harness that
power.

FOCUS

April 21, 2017
Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

ballardtally@gmail.com

11

THE POWER OF THE ACTIVIST
Five of the most powerful agents of environmental
change who continue to lead by example
RACHEL CARSON
1907-1964

Wrote “Silent Spring,” one of the most
influential pieces of environmental writing in
American history. Published in 1962, “Silent
Spring” illustrates the harmful effects of
pesticides, particularly DDT, on wildlife and
humans alike. It became an instant bestseller,
and was the most talked about novel of the
time. Six years of private research and analysis
led to Carson’s introduction of a scientifically
complicated and controversial topic to the
American public.

JULIA BUTTERFLY HILL
1974-

GREENPEACE
1971-

Wangari Maathai
1940-2011

Was born in Nyeri, Kenya, in 1940. After
Began with the voyage of a small group of
becoming the first woman in East and
Canadian activists to the Alaskan island of
Central Africa to obtain a doctorate degree,
Amchitka to confront a U.S. nuclear weapons
she founded the Green Belt Movement in
test. Since this first protest in 1971, Greenpeace
1977. This broad-based non-government
has grown into one of the most visible
organization still promotes environmental
environmentalist organizations in the world,
conservation, poverty reduction and women’s
with offices in 55 countries and almost three
rights through the planting of trees. Maathai
million members across the globe. Whether it’s
was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for
nuclear testing, commercial whaling, toxic waste
her “contribution to sustainable development,
dumping or the possible mining of Antarctica,
democracy and peace.”
Greenpeace has and will
continue to oppose
environmentally
CHICO MENDES
harmful activities.

Was 23- years-old when she climbed a redwood
tree in Humboldt County, California to prevent Pacific Lumber Co.
from clear-cutting the forest. Hill remained in the tree (affectionately
referred to as “Luna”) for a total of 738 days—from December 10, 1997
to December
18, 1999. She lived on a 6-by-6-foot platform, heating
her meals on a single-burner propane stove, and
receiving supplies from supporters via rope. She
finally vacated the tree when Pacific Lumber
Co. agreed to preserve Luna and all trees
within a 200-foot
buffer zone.

1944-1988

Initiated the first ever tropical forest conservation
movement led by forest peoples themselves.
After recognizing the injustice and environmental
damage that the rubber industry created, Mendes
sought to unite the tappers’ unions of Brazil
to combat these issues. In 1987, he convinced
the World Bank
and U.S.t Congress
to support
the creation of
extractive
reserves as
part of their
funding.

If you’re hoping to get outdoors
this spring, see page 16 for
recommendations on Washington’s
best hikes

12

SPORTS
ballardtalisman.com

April 21, 2017
Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

Running for a cause

First annual Running of the Beavers a success

T

he Ballard
foundation,
News Editor
a group that
works to sponsor and fund students
and activities at school, put on a
5k run on Saturday, April 1 to raise
money for the organization. The
funds will be used in the coming years
to help support students in their
extracurricular pursuits.
“The foundation has just been
a fundraising machine for Ballard
High School, I think it’s raised over
3.5 million dollars,” Sue Verduin,
Running of the Beaver Chair, said.
“The biggest part of the pie of what
we give goes to athletics, because of
the golf tournament, and then there’s
performing arts, and the library, as
well as big projects such as the GAINS
program.”
The 5k was an additional fundraiser
the foundation decided to put on this Bucky the Beaver sends off the participants of the first annual Running of the Beavers. The event
year, with the hopes of raising money also raised over $20,000 for the foundation. (Melina Monlux)
and starting a new community event.
participants in the first year, and to
a brisk pace in the middle, and many
“The inspiration behind running of
net
about
$20,000
when
all
is
said
walking. The first place finisher
the beavers was to create a community
and
done,”
Verduin
said.
“We’re
for the men was Ballard alum Alex
event that would support the high
hoping
it
will
grow,
the
turkey
trot
Bowns, with a time of 18:01, and close
school but also bring many different
only
had
around
200
its
first
year
and
behind him, with a time of 19:37, was
people from the community together,”
now
its
at
2
or
3
thousand.”
the female first place finisher, Erica
Verduin said. “To add to that, to try
Saturday
proved
to
be
a
success
for
McElrea.
and get all the younger people moving
the
foundation,
as
over
300
runners
Ballard High School was well
into the area into the mix and show
turned
out
for
the
first
annual
run,
represented
at the event, with
them that there is a high school here,
including
various
ballard
alumni
Gymnastics
coach
Stephanie Gundel
while showing off one of the most
and
Bucky
the
Beaver.
The
event
finishing
second
for
the women, and
beautiful areas of the city, Golden
also
raised
over
$20,000
for
the
teacher
Eileen
Yardley
finishing 5th.
Gardens and truly, home of the
foundation.
The
band
and
cheerleading
squad
beavers.”
The
runners
took
off
just
after
9,
were
also
in
attendance,
sending
the
The run is set to take place annually
with
the
competitive
participants
runners
off
at
the
starting
line.
on the first Saturday of April.
bolting off at the start, others enjoying
“Our goal is to hit about 300

Melina Monlux

Becoming a metro soccer powerhouse

E

ver
since
the
2015 season, the boys
soccer team has had a target
on their back, a weight on
their shoulders and a high
set of expectations.
That team two seasons
ago made a long playoff
run, taking home a Metro
championship trophy and
making it to the state semi
finals, not only setting the
bar for the program but
giving the Ballard sports
fans something to get truly
excited about. Students,
parents and teachers filled
up Interbay Stadium every
Friday night, heckling the

Sam Heikell
Sports Editor

opponents and supporting
the team all the way.
Last season however,
they finished with the best
record in Metro and a top
three state ranking, but
fell short in the first round
of the Metro tournament.
The 3-2 loss to Chief Sealth
came as a shock, ending
their season seemingly
before even it began.
Their superior regular
season that would be
cherished from other
schools, felt like an
afterthought at Ballard
because of the bar that was
set the previous season.
“Last year we thought
that our record was really

important until we lost at
the end of the year,” Senior
captain Max Berner-Hays
said. “But when we lost in
the playoffs, the regular
season really meant nothing
to us.”
This season that high
bar still remains. The
team believes that they
are still knocking on the
door, trying to make a
state tournament run.
They are currently third in
the Metro league with the
end of the regular season
approaching. Despite
losing key players from last
season, they may have more
depth throughout their
roster this year, to go along

with a group of experienced
returning players.
Throughout my four
years at Ballard, I have
watched these expectations
grow. For years, they
have been just an average
program, not the team
to beat. But their recent
dominance has helped them
expect bigger and better
things, as well as create a
create a winning mindset
down the road.
“As seen by our senior
class of 14 or 15 kids, the
program has really gotten
a lot deeper,” Berner-Hays
said. “We’ve really become
a powerhouse in metro.

Sideline Chatter
Lacrosse remains
undefeated
Since moving down to the
Division 2 league, the boys
lacrosse team has been surging, winning every game this
season by a wide margin. “We
have a lot of seniors on the
team this year,” Tlaloc Orozco
(12) said. “We have been playing together for four years
now and have built up a lot of
chemistry.” The team is getting
ready for playoffs, starting on
May 12.

Track
Track and
and Field
Field
update
update
Track and field has triumphed
in almost every event. Sophomore Celyn Stermer is the 6th
fastest 100 meter dash runner
in BHS history. Senior Theron
Baker has a personal record of
13 feet 6 inches, which is the
second best pole vault record
in BHS history, after a record
set in 1966, of 14 feet-1/2.
James Konugres continues
to lead the pack of distance
runners, with the fourth best
mile time in school history at
4:22.5. Konugres has committed to run at Santa Clara
University next year.

Baseball falls to
Bainbridge
Baseball lost by a score of 9-5
to the Bainbridge Spartans
on Monday, April 17. Ballard’s
pitchers gave up a combined
10 walks in the game as they
got down 9-2 heading into
the final inning. But their three
runs in the seventh weren’t
enough. The beavers look to
bounce back today in their
game at O’Dea at 3:30.

Alumnus receives
honor
BHS 2016 graduate Handwalla
Bwana has received the Pac-12
Freshman of the Year award.
The University of Washington
star scored four goals and
tallied seven assists over the
season. In addition to winning
Freshman of the Year, Bwana
was named to the All-Pac 12
Second Team.

SPORTS

April 21, 2017
Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

ballardtally@gmail.com

13

Varsity baseball team faces major cuts

Questions raised regarding value of seniority

T

his baseball
season,
the varsity
News Editor and Editorteam underwent a
in-Chief
dramatic change in
their roster’s size and specific players. Seven
seniors were cut after tryouts, three of whom
were on the varsity team the previous year.
Of those seniors, one was previously a starter.
This decision was met with animosity from
both sides, and called into question the value
of seniority.
“It wasn’t necessarily something that we
wanted to happen, because we like them,
and they were good players, but we have a lot
of young kids that are really good and that
throw really hard, so, I don’t know, it’s tough,
it’s a tough situation,” senior Captain Connor
Mount said.
“I can say with experience that there
is no coach on the planet who would not
consider making cuts the worst part of the
job,” Athletic Director Jason Thurston said.
“It doesn’t matter what sport, what state,
what anything. When you know what a sport
can do for a young man or a young woman
and you want everything you can to let them
experience what it can be, but sometimes
your hands are tied and you’re going, ‘I only
have so many slots.’”
The captains were sad to see their
teammates go, but remain confident that
the team is strong this year. “As a team, I
think we are better this year. That doesn’t
necessarily reflect that because they got cut
we’re better, it’s just as a team,” Mount said.
“We’re all working together every day. It’s
not like the guys who are there now don’t
deserve it.”
For them, the decision to cut the seniors
was fairly black and white. “I think the coach
just wanted to put the best guys on the
roster, and that’s just who he felt were the
best guys,” senior Captain Aidan Welch said.
“Guys outworked them for their spots.”
The priorities of the captains and coach are
very much in line when it comes to the value
of skill versus seniority.
“Our coach definitely prioritizes winning,”
Welch said. “Which is how it should be,”
Mount added.
However, for those seniors who lost their
spots this year, the rationale didn’t quite add
up.
“The reason he gave us is that we weren’t
‘bought in’ or ‘committed,’ which didn’t really
make sense because we had shown up to
everything and we had been on the team last
year,” a senior said, requesting anonymity.
“[The coach] definitely is concerned with
winning. [The cut] wasn’t from a skills
standpoint, speaking for [other players] and
I, we would have helped the team, based on
our past stats.”
Those who were cut were not the only

Melina Monlux and
Rachel Halmrast

ones to question the decision. “For some
cuts yes, [they were justified], for others
no. Some were for goofing around and lack
of commitment. Especially for like [name
withheld], Doug [coach] told him that he just
had a lack of commitment when he showed
up for like every winter workout,” said a
player currently on the varsity team who also
requested to remain anonymous. “For [yet
another player], he told him he had a lack of
talent, but he’s a pitcher, and when he was
pitching, Doug wasn’t even paying attention.
So, I don’t know how he knew he had a lack of
talent when he wasn’t even watching.”
Coach Montgomery was unresponsive to
the Talisman’s request for an interview.
For some, the cuts seemed to be less about
skill and more about relationships. “[The
coach] sort of picks favorites and he’ll help
them out, but other people he will just blow
off completely, which I think is sort of weird,”
the player said. “The kids he favors aren’t
necessarily strong skill-wise but they are
definitely more supportive than others. He
definitely didn’t favor those who got cut. At
all.”
“We never addressed it,” the player who
was cut said, “but it was definitely like I didn’t
agree with his decisions
and he knew it, and I don’t
think he wants outstanding
disagreements on his team.”
The captains, however,
feel that this is just a part
of being on a competitive
team. “Unfortunately that’s
part of it, if you have a bad
relationship with the coach
it doesn’t play in your favor,
but I don’t think it would
have been the main reason,”
Mount said.
Although the motivation
for the cuts remains
somewhat ambiguous,
Thurston urges those with
concerns to address them.
“Communication is the most
important thing,” he said.
“If there are questions that
are still out there, approach
the people that makes those
decisions and sit down
respectfully with them and
ask. You’re not gonna agree
with every decision that your
boss makes or people that are
in your life make, but have
the ability to sit down and
say ‘Could you explain the
decision to me, so that I can
use it for growth.’”

he Ballard Wind
Ensemble, under the
direction of Michael
James, was awarded gold
standing at Carnegie Hall
on April 11. The invitation to
perform at Carnegie Hall is, in
itself, an accomplishment, but
to receive the highest rating
for their performance is an
enormous achievement.
The ensemble performed
the overture to “Candide”
by Leonard Bernstein, a
renowned composer who
was a conductor at Carnegie
Hall with the New York
Philharmonic for many years.
The ensemble also performed
a spiritual, Buddhist
influenced piece entitled,
“Give Us This Day” by David
Maslanka.
The performance at
Carnegie Hall was part
of the Wind Ensemble’s
participation in the New
York International Music
Festival which included eight
groups from around the
world. Events such as this are
years in the making. Though
the honor of a coveted spot
in the festival was received
almost immediately after
James submitted an audition
recording— he did so back in
2015.
James indicated that
the Wind Ensemble was
especially focussed and
determined these past several
months to elevate their
performance. Ultimately, the

Carnegie Hall performance
was adjudicated by three
professional musicians. James
described the process of
evaluation and the end result
in an interview following
the ensemble’s return from
New York City. “They have
a rating system. Each group
receives either bronze, silver
or gold, based on their scores
and performance and we
qualified for the gold award,”
James said. “It went really
well. It was quite an amazing
experience.”
The opportunity to perform
on stage at Carnegie Hall is
one that many musicians do
not receive in their lifetime.
In anticipation of the
performance, senior Forrest
Hsu reflected, “Carnegie
Hall is culturally one of the
most significant places to
perform in the entirety of the
United States--probably in
the entirety of the Americas.
It’s quite an honor just to be
able to go out and perform
in [someplace] that in the
musical world is practically
sacred.”
Prior to the trip,
James outlined the many
opportunities and benefits to
the ensemble’s participation
in the festival. “We have a
one-hour clinic with a former
college wind ensemble
conductor to help us prepare
before the concert. We get to
do a sound check on stage at
Carnegie Hall, which will be
fun, because that building is
amazing. All the groups get

The Ballard High School Wind
Ensemble poses at Central Park.
The ensemble received a gold
rating at the New York International
Music Festival, which was held at
Carnegie Hall. (Karen Williams)

to perform at Central Park in
their band shell,” James said.
“So we’ll [all the ensembles]
be doing all these things
together and supporting
each other, watching each
other, and so I think as
students learn and interact
with students from these
other groups, it will be a fun
experience for them.”
In addition to their
performance at Carnegie, the
festival provided students
with the opportunity to
interact with a diverse group
of young musicians and
participate in workshops.
“A bunch of the other bands
present were from different
countries. There was one from
Wales and one, I think, from
Australia and then there were
some from California,” said
senior Helen Dahl. “I really
enjoyed meeting people from
other places around the world
and fostering friendships. I
was excited to interact with
students and hear about
their school or their music
programs.”
Senior Mckenzie Riley
reflected upon the ensemble’s
prodigious achievement.
“We put so much work into
our music…. And getting
the highest ranking possible
for a performance at one of
the most prestigious music
halls in the world was an
unforgettable experience.”

Staff Reporter
es Misérables, based
on the book by Victor
Hugo of the same title,
has run continuously since
October 1985 – the second
longest-running musical
in the world. Set in 19thcentury France, it is the
story of Jean Valjean, and
his quest for redemption
after serving 19 years in
jail. Valjean breaks his
parole and starts a new
life after a bishop inspires
him by an act of mercy, but
he is relentlessly tracked
down by a police inspector
named Javert. Along the
way, Valjean and a slew of
characters are swept into
a revolutionary period in
France.
Director Shawn M.
Riley, the cast, and BHS
Playmakers presented
the school edition of this
musical on March 16-26.
Their hard work payed off,
and the crowd could feel it
throughout the rendition.
The production captured
every facet of the story
in its purest form. Senior
Diego Roberts Buceta’s
embodiment of Jean Valjean
was perfect, hitting every
note smoothly without
mistakes.
The cast as well as the
orchestra successfully
portrayed every characters’
story, taking us through their
journeys. Especially, in Act
I for “At the End of the Day”
performance. The tone of
his voice, which has grandly
developed since his entry
to the program, expressed
Jean Valjean’s pain in such

a way that it pulled at your
heartstrings.The orchestra
was well synchronized with
the actors, adding nuance
to emotions that couldn’t
simply be portrayed through
acting.
The casting was top
notch and each cast member
manifested their character
with grace. Among the most
memorable are Gavroche,
who tragically collects boots
from dead soldiers, Mr. and
Mrs. Thenardier played by
seniors Nick Requarth and
Olivia Sutherland added the
perfect amount of humor
to an otherwise dark story.
Fantine was also memorable,
played by senior Meg
Shepherd who persevered
even when her microphone
didn’t cooperate.
The show’s best scenes
included One Day More and
Javert’s Suicide, both of
which tugged heartstrings
from every corner of the
room. Senior Alex Putnam’s
performance as Javert,
especially in the suicide
scene, was beautifully
executed. Putnam showed
how prideful Javert was by
the position of his shoulders.
The stillness of the audience
as Javert fell to his death was
a magically artistic moment.
As the curtains came
to a close you could feel
that the audience had just
witnessed an exceptional
performance. The top-notch
theater department once
again provides an artful and
thoroughly entertaining
performance

Les Misérables


‘Get Out’ turns heads, shifts paradigms

Sketch comedian makes smash horror debut against odds

G

oing into
see Jordan
Peele’s
directorial debut, I expected fairly
simple, cut and dry entertainment. I
was hoping for some cheesy jumpscares to keep me on edge, and
hopefully some easy-to-swallow
gore at the end. I didn’t go into
the theatre that night expecting
a horror movie to hit me with so
many emotions. I was glued to the
screen every second, unable to look
away, not unlike the protagonist
Chris. The film isn’t just a horror
movie, in that horror is only one
of many emotions the audience
will experience. It’s funnier than
most comedies coming out today,
although this shouldn’t be surprising
given writer Jordan Peele’s veteran
history on some of the funniest
sketch comedy shows in American
television. It also made me think
about systemic race, society and
helped me challenge the commonly
held belief that white liberals are
somehow not responsible for the
systematic subjugation of AfricanAmericans. This sounds heavy, and a
little boring, but more than anything
“Get Out” is the most badass horror
movie in the past few years.
The opening scene of “Get Out” is
the most haunting part of the film.
A black man is walking down the
streets of a suburban, upper class
neighborhood, talking on his phone
minding his own business when an
all-white, lowrider sports car starts
tailing him until a man hops out,
bashes the pedestrian’s head in and
shoves him in his trunk. The scene
could have killed the movie before
it even started but writer/director
Jordan Peele paces it seamlessly,
snapping us into the actual story. It
helps the audience realize that this
movie isn’t here for cheap scares,
it’s here to make you realize that the
only real monster is racism.
The story revolves around Chris,
a talented photographer played
by the British actor
Daniel Kaluuya,
(of Netflix’s “Black
Mirror”) as he goes
to meet his girlfriend
Rose (played by Allison
Williams from HBO’s
Girls) parents for the
first time. “Do they
know I’m black?” he
tentatively asks before
they leave for their
ritzy upstate New
York farmhouse. A
recurring theme in
the film is that the

Nolan Baker
Staff Reporter

Graphic by Chris Holland

white characters always
downplay race in every
conversation with Chris,
even if they’re really bad
at doing it. When Chris
meets Rose’s father,
played menacingly by
Bradley Whitford, he
tries to seem cool to the
new black boyfriend,
but slips up frequently.
He tries to fist bump him when
they first meet, refers to Chris and
Rose’s relationship as a “thang,” but
ultimately isn’t a racist because he
“would have voted for Obama a third
time.”
The un-racist facade the
parents try to play off quickly
dissolves as Chris meets their black
gardener and maid, who always
wear suspicious grins and are
overly happy to be working for on
their estate. They seem to have a
glazed-over look in their eyes that
turns Chris’ awkwardness to full on
suspicion. As the movie progresses,
more is revealed about the family’s
creepy past, and the less Chris
wants to be there. The house and
the people in it only get weirder and
weirder, as Chris is put into spacedout trances by Rose’s mom, played
hauntingly by Catherine Keener who
uses a simple tea cup to paralyze
Chris, inducing the now-trademark
horrified stare that everyone knows,
even if they haven’t watched the
movie. The final act is one of the
most satisfying examples of using
blood, gore and violence in a horror
movie. It’s a perfect end to mounting
tension that shows the talent of
writer/director Jordan Peele in his
directorial debut.
What makes this movie so
special is not the creepy maids or
heart attack-inducing tension, but
the thoughts it puts in the audience’s
mind. This film is about race, and
the success it has garnered shows
that Hollywood may finally be ready
to accept the work of young black

15
SEATTLE’S
A&E

April 21, 2017
Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

This is how most of the audience will look
throughout watching the film. (Still from
IMDB)

filmmakers. Jordan Peele is the first
African-American writer/director
to make over $100 million on their
debut movie, showing that he is a
legendary talent. His track record
includes writing for and starring in
“MadTV” in the early 2000’s with
Keegan Michael Key, who would
later become the other half of “Key
& Peele,” the wildly successful
sketch comedy show that elevated
black comedians to a level none
thought possible after Dave Chapelle
infamously quit his own “Chapelle
Show” in 2006.
Not only does Peele’s
success mean he will become known
as one of the greatest television
and film writers of our generation,
but it has broken a glass ceiling
for all black filmmakers to create
what they want to create. “Get Out”
proves that black filmmakers who
aren’t Tyler Perry or Spike Lee
are a viable option for studios to
support. The nation-wide success
of “Get Out” is because it’s a movie
made by a black filmmaker for all
audiences, not just black audiences.
This isn’t “Madea Sees a Ghost,”
it’s a horror movie that holds up
because it has an amazing story
that captures the essence of legends
like Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen
King, but also advances the genre
as something that can comment on
today’s society and advance entire

Get Out (2017)
1/2

ballardtally@gmail.com

FIRST
YOUTH POET
LAUREATE
FINDS
ACTIVISM IN
POETRY

L

eija Farr writes
poetry that finds
Staff Reporter
the love in the
darkest corners of oppression.
A descendant of a black panther,
Farr sees her poetry as a form of
activism. “An activist,” she says, “is
somebody who resists and challenges
certain notions of what is ‘normal’
or what is ‘beauty.’” The 19-year-old
student is Seattle’s first Youth Poet
Laureate, an honor that awards Farr a
writing mentorship and book deal with
Penmanship Press in New York.
“For Black Boys” is an ode to black
men in America, and a criticism of the
conventions that hold them to their
stereotypes. Her slam-style intensity
could be mistaken for angst, but it’s
clear that the heart of her frustration
comes from a profound tenderness
for those she writes about. Her poetry
is rooted in the deconstruction of the
norms she sees as toxic. “I can tell from
the oceans on your bed that you’ve
never been told you’re beautiful,” she
writes. “Black boys bleed every month.”
She simultaneously acknowledges
the violence that black men face and
compares it to a uniquely feminine
problem. Masculinity, to her, is a
prison that holds black men back.
Farr’s poems are soulful and
visceral. She is unabashed in her
identity as a black woman. She’s not
interested in censorship or subtlety;
she collides with the issues she tackles
head on. She proves that there is grace
in the audacious.

Chris Barrett

Farr’s first
collection
of poems,
“Battered Yet
Beautiful,”
is available
now.

16

A&E
ballardtalisman.com

April 21, 2017
Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

WASHINGTON’S
BEST
HIKES
Ana Marbett Claire Moriarty
Online Editor

Opinions Editor

Rachel Halmrast

Clay Cantrell

Editor-in-Chief

Staff Reporter

Snow Lake

Mount Ranier Ntl. Park

Lake 22

North Cascades

T

he trailhead of Lake 22 is
located 80 minutes east of
Seattle by car, leading to a
stunning hike that almost anyone can
enjoy. While it is steep, rocky and
tiring at times, the beautiful mountain
vistas and the lake at the top make
whatever hardships the journey may
have presented more than worthwhile.
For the most part, the trail passes
under trees and over little rivers, but
towards the top the forest thins out
and the path runs along the side of
the hill. If you don’t fare well in the
heat, this part can be grueling when
it’s sunny, but on a clear day, the
view of the Cascades from here is
breathtaking.
The lake itself, ringed by trees and
craggy rock faces, is glorious, and
definitely swimmable on warmer days.
The trail wraps all the way around it.
Rest there if you’re weary. It’s quiet
except for the noise of other hikers
and the occasional bird call.

H

iking up to Snow Lake
is always a breathtaking
experience. The moment you
descend the last ridge and catch sight
of the crystalline waters reflecting
the snow-covered peaks you know
it was worth the 7.2 miles of jagged
switchbacks.
The trailhead is tucked away at
the end of the Alpental parking lot. A
series of wooden log steps begin the
ascent up the mountain. Early spring
is the optimal time to hike Snow Lake
because winter fog still clings to the
trees and patches of snow surround
the lake.
The wooden steps soon give way
to a forest trail that carries you up
towards the lake. About a mile in the
trees clear to expose a view of Chair
Peak that stops you in your tracks.
After passing the opening, the trees
engulf the trail once again to begin
the fairly steep trek up along the ridge
above the lake.
Finally, as the trail peaks up and
over the ridge, you catch sight of the
glimmering translucent lake. Swatches
of snow paint the sides of the slopes
around the water creating an almost
imitable scene. A rocky beach provides
a perfect place to eat and rest.

Icicle Creek
Leavenworth

O

f the many trails in the
Leavenworth area, Icicle Ridge
is a staple, and a favorite of
many residents. The hike snakes up
into the Wenatchee National Forest,
above the Wenatchee River, Tumwater
Canyon and the town itself. The end of
this trail connects to the much longer
Fourth of July Trail, which offers a
day-long hike for those seeking major
elevation gain and a ridgetop view.
Icicle Ridge, a six-mile hike
climbing up nearly 1800 feet, is
not for the faint of heart. Over a
dozen switchbacks carry the hiker
up through the morning fog or
afternoon sun, to a gorgeous view of
the surrounding Cascades and town
below. The trail is lined with conifers,
with a few trickles of small streams
crossing the path. As the trees break
periodically, one can catch a glimpse
of the Icicle Creek Valley, but the full
view can only be found at the very
top, where a small clearing acts as the
perfect vantage point.

Rattlesnake
Ledge
North Bend

T

he Rattlesnake Ledge Trail
is a fun and moderately
challenging hike just over 6.6
miles long and at an elevation gain
of 2240 feet. Located near North
Bend, Washington, this winding trail
features scenic views of Mount Si,
Mount Washington and Rattlesnake
lake. This trail is just under an
hour drive from Seattle and is a
very popular destination during the
summer when the water is warm
enough to take a dip. This hike is at
a relatively gentle incline due to the
multiple switchbacks on the well
maintained trail.
When you arrive, the trailhead
offers bathrooms, a helpful
information kiosk, maps and history
of the area. This is where you
will begin your hike. As you gain
elevation you will find many great
lookout points from which you can
see Rattlesnake Lake and track your
progress. At just under two miles you
will reach a marked junction, keep
right and follow a short path to reach
Rattlesnake Ledge. This exposed ledge
is a popular photo opportunity but you
must take extreme precaution when at
the ledge as it is surrounded by cliffs
on either side.
If at this point you still haven’t had
enough hiking for one day, you can
extend your journey by heading back
to the junction and hiking down the
trail towards East Peak which is 2.4
miles from the junction. Upper Ledge
and Middle Ledge are also just a short
distance from the junction and offer
alternate and less crowded scenic
views.
Overall this hike is excellent for
anyone wanting an introduction into
hiking, a quick weekend getawayor
just some great exercise. Hop in your
whip with your closest friends and
take a trip to The Rattlesnake Ledge
Trail for an awesome time!

A&E

April 21, 2017
Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

ballardtally@gmail.com

17

What are those little evangelist comics?
A guide to Jack Chick’s “Gospel Ammunition”
Oscar Zahner
and Fletcher Anderson

Political Correspondent
and Staff Artist
nce every year, like
clockwork, men in
collared shirts stand
outside the middle schools and
high schools of Seattle, just far
enough off of school property
that administrators are
powerless to kick them out. In
their hands are stacks of little
black-and-white comic books.
It’s a familiar sight to most
students. Their presence
inspires a range of emotions:
grim fascination in some, giddy
excitedness is others, and
annoyance in many. Behind
all of these emotions is the
controversial content of those
little comic books. Every one
of them is a short evangelist
parable, with morals of varying
severity.
Despite their fire-andbrimstone message, the
comic books have gained
a sort of following as an
“ironic” taste. The dated
slang, ludicrous storylines, and
hyper exaggerated strawmen
characters all lend the comics
an entertainment value that
transcends their religious
message. Perhaps this lack of
gravity is the reason that, while
the comic books are a fairly
common touchstone of the
Seattle schooling experience,
their fascinating and
occasionally disturbing history
remain relatively unknown.
Even the proper name
for one of these evangelist
comic books, a “Chick Tract,”
is recognized by few who
are familiar with them.
Perhaps that’s fitting, given
the fascinatingly enigmatic
and private nature of their
namesake and founder: Jack
Chick.
Chick, an unparalleled
voice in the world of longform fundamentalist Christian
cartoons, built himself quite a
formidable empire of religious
publishing before his death
in 2016. It’s difficult to paint
an exact biography of his life,
due to the man’s obsession
with privacy and aversion to
the public eye. According to a
brief biography on the Chick
Publications website, he spent

O

the early years of his life as
a foul-mouthed nonbeliever.
After three years of military
service during World War II,
he met and married Lola Lynn
Priddle, who converted him to
fundamentalist Christianity.
After his conversion, Chick was
inspired to write his first Tract,
A Demon’s Nightmare in an
attempt to parallel the success
of communist propaganda in
China.
Even if Chick’s personal
history is opaque, the legacy
of his Tracts is surprisingly
sprawling. Chick Tracts are
not a phenomenon unique
to Seattle; in fact, Chick
Publications is based in
Ontario, California. And the
comics have gained notoriety
on a national legacy: the
Smithsonian Institute has even
used Chick Tracts in a display
on American culture.
Unfortunately, the legacy
of Chick Tracts has a dark
side. While the most common
Tracts that fall into the hands
of Seattleite students may
depict acts of violence or
upsetting and even grotesque
stereotypes, many Chick Tracts
exist solely for the purpose
of attacking religious groups.
Examples include Allah had
no Son, Camel’s in the Tent,
and Are Roman Catholics
Christian?
In fact, Chick Publications
has earned such a dubious
reputation that the Southern
Poverty Law Center has
designated it as a hate group.
Chick Publications has often
found itself at odds with more
moderate churches that see
Chick’s religious extremism as
an excuse for bigotry.
Still, it’s difficult to deny that
there’s something fascinating
about the Tracts. Maybe its
the effort and caring that
has clearly been invested in
the masterful illustrations.
Maybe it’s the laughable
misconceptions about youth
culture, and the puzzling
logic of the Tract’s strawman
characters. Maybe its the
unironic way in which the
“hardened” characters call each
other “jive turkeys” and refer to
all drugs as “speed.” Something
just keeps bringing us back.
We hate to admit it, but we

have a passion for these Tracts.
And as long as they remain
an unavoidable routine in our
schools, we’ve decided to share
with you the ones that we think
are worth a read-through,
out of curiosity if nothing
else. Though the parables can
be interesting insights into
the psychology of extreme
fundamental moralism, we’ve
elected to judge our favorites
based on their artistic merits.
This means that we will
discuss what makes each
Tract fascinating in terms of
its story, its art, its characters,
and its dialogue, rather than
our summary of its theological
undertones.

The tribulations of Jesus Christ, as explained in the
Chick Tract “Charlie’s Ants” (Jack Chick)

TOP TRACTS
SOMEBODY GOOFED

Somebody Goofed will always
be my number one. It’s got
everything: speed, violence,
and a plot twist to rival M.
Night Shyamalan’s finest. The
story recounts the adventure
of a young blonde boy and his
evil black-haired atheist friend
who rebuke a priest and almost
immediately get hit by a train.
I don’t want to spoil anything,
but all the human drama has an
incredible emotional payoff.

HAPPY
HALLOWEEN

Ever wonder what the cool
kids do at Halloween parties?
Well “anybody who’s anybody
at Salem High” is renting
out a haunted house on and
sacrificing a cat to satan at
midnight. A cautionary tale for
those who think Halloween is all
fun and games.

THE
NERVOUS
WITCH

A truly revealing tale about
how millions of teens are being
swept into witchcraft and
Satanism by the notorious Harry
Potter series. Will ensure that
your friends won’t get lured into
hell.

enate Joint
Resolution
34 passed
in silence,
a break in
character for a
president who
usually signs
legislation with
flourish and
Oscar Zahner
fanfare. Only
Political Correspondent days later, that
news story
would be drowned out by other, more
exciting headlines: the U.S. bombing
of a Syrian airbase, for instance, or the
confirmation of the hyperconservatvie
Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
But behind the smokescreen of
Trump’s spectacular media circus,
shrouded by a climate of public
apathy, a new institution is being
birthed from the gangrenous influence
of dark money in American politics:
the information-industrial complex.
The bill, which repealed the
implication of FCC regulations
preventing internet service providers
from obtaining the internet histories
of their users without prior consent, is
a significant rebuke to online privacy.
In short, it grants your ISP access to
your internet search history in order
to sell your information to advertisers
on the open market. And with a
Gallup poll indicating that nearly half
of regular internet users pay “little
or no attention” to internet privacy
and only 16 percent pay “very close
attention,” public consent seemed
like an afterthought. An afterthought
dwarfed by the monumental specter of
campaign contributions.
The Verge reports that the telecom
industry spent nearly $10,000,000 in
campaign contributions on politicians
who voted for the bill in the most
recent election cycle. Of course, with
their users’ information as a brand
new source of revenue, that seems like
chump change.
The bill was passed in a palpably
sleazy cocktail of public unawareness
and corporate interests, but the
precedent it has set for the future of
technology is even more harrowing.
Corporations have already begun the
process of lobbying to undermine
what little privacy protections exist for
the internet, and now have succeeded
getting legislation that supports this
goal past the president’s desk. As
private industry erodes the standard
for privacy, the precedent is set for
the government to create an invasive
system of surveillance based on your
online information.
The end result is a potential
scenario in which government

surveillance programs would rely on
non-existent, which undermines their
private industry for your information.
potential to become a significant factor
This cooperation between government in the complex.
and the massive industry would
Additionally, some VPN providers
render your information a commodity; vehemently opposed the bill that
it would render your privacy nonISPs were so warm towards. Private
existent.
Internet Access, the most notable
For now, the most obvious question example of this opposition, took out a
is: “what can I
full-page ad in the
As private industry New York Times
do to protect my
privacy?”
condemn the 50
erodes the standard to
Unfortunately,
senators who took
for privacy, the
options are
contributions from
dishearteningly
precedent is set for telecommunications
limited. One of
lobbies and voted
the government to for the bill.
the most easily
discernable
While it may
create an invasive
solutions,
appear more
system of surveillance socially conscious to
switching to
an ISP that
a VPN, it won’t
based on your online use
won’t sell your
change the fact that
information.
internet history,
your information
is rendered
is available for
crushingly
purchase. It only
difficult by the death grip in which
changes the source that’s selling
a few massive corporations hold the
your information. And VPNs aren’t
industry.
a particularly well-known service,
Additionally, ISPs have a nasty
meaning that they’re unlikely to
history of obfuscating their intentions
challenge the invasive power of ISPs.
with your privacy, meaning that
Downloading a VPN might make
choosing a responsible provider is
you feel safer, but the reality is that
nearly impossible.
there is no easy fix for this problem.
Another, more promising solution
As long as the issue continues to slip
is downloading a virtual private
under the radar of the public, and
network, commonly known as a VPN.
as long as our government is broken
Most students at Ballard are familiar
enough to support the corruption of
with VPNs, which help combat
an information-industrial complex,
restrictions in the school WiFi. VPNs
privacy will not be treated as a right.
are able to do this by routing all your
And the most recent consequence of
traffic through their server, meaning,
this corruption has reared its head:
among other things, your ISP will not
your internet history is now on the
have access to your search history.
open market.
However, your VPN does have access
to this information. This
solution, in effect, only moves
the source of the problem.
One may be inclined
to trust a VPN over the
cutthroat capitalism of an
ISP provider, especially
given the fact that privacy
regulations for ISPs have
been lifted. But it’s important
to keep in mind that VPNs
are equally unregulated and
unpredictable, and are often
subjected to less scrutiny
than large corporations.
For now, however, VPN
companies don’t threaten
to create an informationindustrial complex in the
same way that ISPs do. VPNs
are comparatively small
companies that don’t have
the same political clout as the
telecommunications industry.
As such, their influence in
Cartoon courtesy of Emma DeRubertis
government is practically

Letter to
the Editor:
“lou reed”

I

f Lou Reed had gotten his way, we
would all be listening to Lou Reed.
Music would be an arbitrary word,
and the sensible people of this Earth
would solely listen to the songs of Lou
Reed.
I have considered for many days
and nights whether or not I would
be able to handle Lou Reed’s world.
It wouldn’t take too many “Perfect
Day”s to make me blow my own brains
out. I’m fragile in this way. But on
the contrary, it’s possible that there
is a vast universe of music I’m cut off
from, and to only listen to earthling
music in this universe would be the
same as only listening to Lou Reed as
an earthling.
Another challenge the Lou Reed
universe faces is the possibility that
the entirety of Lou Reed’s discography
does not capture a large enough scope
of the human experience to adequately
support the human race. It’s possible
that emotional complexities that Lou
Reed doesn’t sing about could lose
their validation in the public eye and
be whittled out of existence.
This idea relies on the belief that
certain emotional complexes are
only pertinent in society due to their
affirmation in music, but is it possible
that we wouldn’t still believe that
“Fear is a Man’s Best Friend” if it
weren’t for the song of the same title
written by John Cale in 1974?
In his 1983 album ‘Legendary
Hearts,’ Lou Reed sings about some
pretty bold subjects—one could argue
that this album alone captures the
human experience. With songs about
“legendary love” and even a guy who
hates work, it’s possible that this
album could single-handedly record
the entirety of the human condition.
By Leo Rauf, Senior

OPINIONS
ballardtally@gmail.com

April 21, 2017
Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

19

Suffering in silence: The perils of school-wide assemblies
Overcrowded gym poses threats to the safety of the student

T

hroughout
the year,
we have
become all too
familiar with
the issues and
inconveniences
caused by the
overcrowding
of our school.
Melina Monlux
While we have
News Editor
spent months
exhausting the
topic, there seems to be one place in
which our suffering remained silent:
school-wide assemblies.
The bane of every high schooler’s
existence, these events take place at a
time of utmost inconvenience to skip,
and consist of some spectacle which
its patrons are unable to properly
enjoy due to the incessant awkward
nudging from all sides. While the
overpopulation of the bleachers is
not (technically) a safety hazard, as
maximum occupancy is 62 students
more than we have at the school, it is
truly an uncomfortable situation.
There is absolutely no escape from
the knees jabbing into your back from
behind, causing a crippling cramp in

your lower back, or the kid to your
right who is sitting just a little too
close. The heat which emanates from
these people becomes unbearable.
And if you are wearing a sweatshirt,
tough luck, there’s no room for you
to take it off, unless of course you are
in the mood to give your neighbor a
black eye.
While the rigid position every
student is forced to sit in for hours
out of fear of seriously invading
the personal space of those around
you is not reason enough to take up
arms, what happens during spirit
assemblies just may be. Students flock
to the gym to celebrate class pride
and enjoy a lovely event produced by
ASB, and yet are entirely unable to
do so. How can one properly scream
for spirit when they cannot hear
their own scream as a result of the
sheer number of screams that exist
within such an overcrowded gym?
With students getting excited left
and right, there are likewise bound
to be some casualties within such
a cramped space. We dream of the
glory days when the only injuries ever
inflicted during an assembly were a
misfired water balloon and a teacher

collision. Now, one must be on alert at
all times to avoid a wild elbow to the
gut or a rogue fist to the face. There
is absolutely no stopping the perils of
these assemblies until there is some
sort of reduction in attendance.
With that said, a lightly attended
assembly was once easily attainable.
In the years of post 6th period
assemblies, skipping was a far
more viable option. But when the
treacherous administration discovered
that kids were skipping (in the
interest of being good samaritan of
course) they moved the assemblies
to their current slot after 2nd period
to dissuade this behavior. What a
mistake that turned out to be. Still,
even if students wish to give up their
seats in an assembly for the greater
good, there is the issue of arriving
back at school on time. The assembly
could go under or over the designated
time, for example, and the student
would be at fault. Truly a shame.
Action must be taken against this
atrocious problem. Opening a new
school simply isn’t enough. We need
results now. Whether students must
sign up for assemblies, draw from a

lottery for the privilege of attending or
play a game of freshman assassin at
orientation to determine who may go
for the next four years, a solution must
be found. The student body should not
have to suffer in silence any longer.

How the student handbook contradicts the unwritten rules that our school lives by

W

e all get the first day
of school packets
at the beginning
of the year, but how many
people really look at them?
These packets contain flyers
for clubs and sports, paperwork to be turned in and a
copy of the student handbook.
Though some information in
the handbook changes from
Keely Carolan
year to year—such as the ASB
Staff Reporter
roster, list of coaches and
administration—the basic district-wide rules remain
the same. But how well are these rules enforced
around our school? And while the schoolwide rules
are consistently outlined in the handbook, each
teacher has their own regulations for their classes,
generally highlighted in the syllabi that we’re given
at the beginning of the year. It’s hard for students to
follow these expectations when everyone seems to
be operating under their own guidelines.
Let’s take the cell phone policy for example. According to the handbook (which can be found on the
BHS website), people aren’t even supposed to use
their cell phones during school hours, and they are
to be turned off and put away during class time.
However, in many classes the use of cell phones is
permitted, and sometimes promoted, as an educational tool. It’s great that so many of us have access
to such devices as a resource for our education, but
if we are to do so, it is definitely time to align our

policies with the times. Not to mention that alternatives to this technology-based education need to be
provided for those who don’t have such easy access.
Another example is the food and drink policy.
The handbook states that, “No food or non-water
drinks will be permitted in any academic pod, the
performing arts areas, 1st floor entrance next to
the Main Office, library, Career Center, office areas,
gyms or in the locker room areas.” This may come as
a surprise to many seeing as the pods are lined with
groups of students during lunch, an effort to find a
quiet space to recollect ourselves and get prepared

for the second half of the day. Along with the fact
that there’s simply not enough space for everyone to
eat in the cafeteria, and it’s unreasonable to expect
that all of the overflow will travel off campus.
This is one of the rules that clearly just doesn’t
make sense for administration to enforce, as it will
create a safety hazard if we’re all made to cram ourselves into the cafeteria for lunch.
In some instances, a few rules in a section will be
enforced while other rules are ignored. Let’s take the
attendance policy. When a student shows up to class
after the bell has rung, the teacher usually marks
them late. That goes on the student’s permanent
record unless they are able to get it excused.
But the handbook also states that if a student is
late to periods 2-6, they have to go to the office to
get a late pass, and are required to attend one period
of lunch detention. First of all, it doesn’t make sense
to make students go pick up a pass from the office
when they’re already late to class. That will just
make them more late and cause more of a disruption when they enter the classroom. Secondly, it
doesn’t seem like lunch detention is something that
teachers still use as a punishment (although maybe
it just isn’t made known to most students), so why is
it still listed as a consequence?
If students take the time to examine the handbook, they’ll see that there are many inconsistencies
with what’s written, and what actually happens at
our school. And to be clear, that’s not necessarily a bad thing! Often these rules are broken to the
benefit of us all—the handbook just needs to be rewritten to reflect this.

20

BACKPAGE
ballardtally@gmail.com

BEAVESDROPPING

April 21, 2017
Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)

HEARD IN THE HALLWAYS: WE’RE NOT FUNNY ENOUGH TO MAKE THIS STUFF UP
“For my birthday present, can I
uppercut you?”
“Pescetarianism
is my favorite
religion!”

“Some kid just rubbed his sandwich on
my shoe!”

“Stop stress-balling my arm!”

“Yeah all Icelandic people sound like elephants.”
“I have respect for all artists because that
sh*t is harder than it looks. Except Migos.”

“I want to go to jail just to play
prison soccer.”
“Yeah and she’s always touching my elbow!”

SENIOR ASSASSIN OBITUARIES

DEATHS AND UPDATES ON THE SCHOOL’S FAVORITE GAME

SATIRE

Clay Cantrell
Staff Reporter

The first man to go was poor Will
And for that his friends surely did grill
He was strutting his strut
When shot in the butt
Eli Wolk had just claimed the first kill
R.I.P. Will Bittner
Adam was driving young Jackson to school
But his banter was irritating, some might say cruel
Jackson had been defiled
So he texted Ol’ Miles
And Adam was killed in a duel
R.I.P. Adam Barenchi
Alison, Alison sweat while she slept
Under her pillow, her blaster she kept
She went straight to work
And Jake with a smirk
Brought her down to an untimely death
R.I.P. Alison Aiken
There once was a young man named Sam
Who found himself in quite the jam
While making a truce
Her bullets let loose
For Annabelle gave not a damn
R.I.P. Sam Heikell

First death in rash of
assassinations

F

lowers, candles and letters
piled up outside the school,
on the corner of 14th
and 65th, where senior Will Bittner was
assassinated.
Bittner was just trying to walk to class on
the brisk April morning, but fate had other
plans when his assassin shot him in the rear.
Authorities found the body at 9:30 a.m. but it
was too late, he was pronounced dead at the
site.
Bittner enjoyed traveling and hanging out
with friends and planned on attending the
University of Arizona next fall.
“He was a real sweetheart,” junior Carolyn
Miller said. “He always had an open mind and
kept a smile on his face.”
A memorial service will be held this
Saturday at the Ballard Bluff at 5 o’clock
where family, friends and all who knew him
can mourn together and pour one out.
“I always loved hanging out with him,”
senior Jake Thompson said. “He was a
gracious, gracious person. He will be missed.”
Sam Heikell
Sports Editor